International Lecture Series
Art & Ideas

SUPPORTING SPONSOR:
The Nichols Foundation - Mr. and Mrs. Peter C. Coxhead

Patron Sponsors: Barbara S. Longfellow, Dr. and Mrs. David J. McKenna
Additional Support: Kenneth W. Cunningham, Jr. Endowment Fund; Virginia H. Van Wormer Lecture Fund

“Excellent!”  “Outstanding, very informative!”  “Total delight!”

“Clearly one of the best presentations I’ve heard!” “Truly enjoyable - superb !”

Find out what your friends and neighbors are talking about! Experience the finest speakers in the arts and humanities in the intimate 240-seat Leonhardt Auditorium - unrivaled views, excellent sound (enhanced for the hearing impaired), and digital HD projection.

ORDER NOW! Members Only Advance Series Discount: $180 until September 3
Not a member yet? Click here to join now and reserve your series tickets today!

Please select either the 4:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. lectures for the series (time changes for individual lectures must be made by calling Ellyn Giordano at (772) 231-0707, ext. 116).

4:00pm Lectures - Cost: $180
 

6:00pm Lectures - Cost $180

After September 3rd, registration opens for the general public
Series: $250 ($200 Members)
Individual: $75 ($55 Members)

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien
World-Renowned Architects
February 10, 2014

Gravity and Grace

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien design buildings that are rooted to the earth and connected to history. Their buildings, crafted from materials like concrete, stone and brick, are a meditation on gravity, and built to last many lifetimes. As architects they aspire to serve people. And if they serve well then the result can transcend and bring a sense of grace to life. Williams and Tsien will explore the thinking behind several of their projects including the new location of the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA.

Williams and Tsien began working together in New York in 1977 and nine years later established Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects in the same Central Park South studio where they work today. The twenty-seven person firm works primarily for institutions that value issues of aspiration and meaning, timelessness and beauty, designing buildings that are exquisitely made and useful in ways that speak to both efficiency and the spirit. Parallel to their practice, they maintain active teaching careers and lecture worldwide.

Rex Ziak
Distinguished Historian
February 17, 2014

Mozart: A Life in Letters

Through more than 600 correspondences expressing emotions, hopes, plans and frustrations, the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is revealed in his intimate conversations with his family. In these fascinating and personal letters, the character of the young genius is found describing music with his sister, complaining about his father’s snoring at night, and concealing his mother’s death. In his own words we discover the intrigue of Italian composers trying to undermine his accomplishments, the comical descriptions of contemporary singers, as well as romantic and graphic love letters to his wife, Constanze. This program’s lecture and reading with live cello accompaniment provides a rare and moving insight into the life of one of the world’s greatest artists.

Sometimes called an “accidental historian,” Rex Ziak was named a Distinguished Historian on three occasions by the Oregon Historical Society. A self-educated scholar whose research redefined Lewis and Clark’s arrival at the Pacific Ocean, Ziak is also a photographer, Emmy Award-winning cinematographer, and a conservationist who single-handedly saved the last parcel of ancient rainforest in southwest Washington. He has researched the lives of captivating historical figures including Thomas Jefferson, John Jacob Astor, Captain Cook, and W.A. Mozart.

Don Bacigalupi
President, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
March 3, 2014

From Vision to Reality: Building the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

If you build it will they come? Take a look behind the scenes with Don Bacigalupi of this major new museum opened in Bentonville, Arkansas in November 2011. Learn how philanthropist Alice Walton’s vision for providing access, art, and education to the people of her home community became a reality – and a national phenomenon. Gain unique insight into the museum collection’s development and organization, and how it informs ongoing and future programs.

Don Bacigalupi, Ph.D. was responsible for the planning, organization, construction and inauguration of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Since the Museum’s opening, he has overseen the key areas of strategic planning and implementation, collections, exhibitions, education programs, and professional staffing. Prior to joining Crystal Bridges, Dr. Bacigalupi served as president, director and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art; executive director of the San Diego Museum of Art; director and chief curator of the Blaffer Art Museum; and the Brown Curator of Contemporary Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Richard Ormond
Director of the John Singer Sargent Catalogue Raisonné Project
March 24, 2014

John Singer Sargent: A Personal View

Drawing on family documents and reminiscences, Richard Ormond traces the remarkable story of the American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). From his upbringing as an expatriate in Europe, to his early career in Paris that culminated in the scandal surrounding his famous Madame Gautreau (1884), Ormond describes the artist’s subsequent struggles, his resulting breakthrough and his rise to fame. He will also chart the family relationships and friendships that mattered most to Sargent in this well-rounded picture of the personality, career and art of the greatest Anglo-American portraitist of his generation.

Richard Louis Ormond is an independent art historian and director of the John S. Sargent Catalogue Raisonné Project. Honored as a Commander of the British Empire, he is the former Director of the National Maritime Museum, and the former Deputy Director of the National Portrait Gallery in London. He has published extensively over more than forty years, including many works on Sargent. Ormond curated his first Sargent exhibition in 1964. He is the artist’s great-nephew.

NEW! Full Series Registration includes special exclusives:

• Be an ILS Insider - Gain exclusive information about presentations by email!
• Receive special advance program reminder cards!
• Be entered into a drawing for a selection of signed materials by this season's guest speakers!

If you prefer to order by phone, please call (772) 231-0707, ext. 136 to reserve your space today.
 

VBMA Adult Public Programs Refund Policy
All Sales Are Final; please review your reservations carefully before submitting. We are unable to offer refunds or exchanges beginning sixty (60) days before a scheduled program. However, the value of cancelled reservations may qualify as a tax-deductible donation; please notify the Museum at your earliest opportunity before the program date. Occasionally, programs are cancelled or postponed due to circumstances beyond the Museum’s control. When this occurs, you may elect to have your reservation honored for the rescheduled date or you may receive a refund if applicable. In some cases, the performance contract may set refund limitations. All refunds or exchanges are subject to a $10 non-refundable convenience fee.